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Chinese War of Pacific Aggression
The Chinese War of Pacific Aggression refers to a series of conflicts and battles fought by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, Indonesia and Vietnam between 1986 and the '91 Disaster. It was a largely naval conflict at first but soon spilled over to include fighting along the Chinese/Soviet border. It has largely been recognised that Chinese actions during this time were among the main catalysts for the '91 War. A Recharged China Victory for China in the Taiwan Straits War reinvigorated Chinese regional ambitions thanks largely to the inability of the world superpowers to stop them. The Chinese began to throw their political weight around in the region which became particularly worrying for Vietnam whose relationship with China remained sour following the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. Indonesia too became concerned despite early good relations with China. China made more and more demands on Indonesia in exchange for continued support forcing Indonesia to break realtions in December 1986. The Chinese "Island-Grab" The first stage of this war (some historians argue the Taiwan Straits War was the first battle) came when China demanded Vietnam surrender sovereignty of nine islands in the Gulf of Tonkin only two of which were of any strategic importance. This would allow China to extend its territorial waters legally. The Chinese also demanded that Vietnamese troops based in Cambodia withdraw back inside Vietnam (this was the original source of the 1979 conflict but was never resolved entirely). China presented these demands to the Vietnamese embassy in Switzerland on February 4th 1987. It was promptly rejected. On February 7th 1987 a force of People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang H7A1 fighter bombers hit Vietnamese troops based on Con Co island. This included the PLAAF's first large scale air refuelling operation. A few hours later the same positions were bombarded by a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Luda-class destroyer but the ship was beaten back by an unsuccessful air strike involving Vietnamese Sukhoi Su-20 "Fitters". Vietnam did indeed withdraw its forces from Cambodia and rushed them to its northern border expecting a Chinese advance but no such attack came. Instead the PLAN and PLAAF flooded the Gulf of Tonkin attacking Vietnamese patrol boats and aircraft seemingly at will. The Vietnamese air force fought hard against the Chinese over the gulf but failed to repel the Chinese and on February 23rd the Vietnamese government reluctantly agreed to hand over the islands China wanted and pledged not to send its troops back into Cambodia. It was a victory that only further encouraged the Chinese. Intimidating in the South China Sea The next phase for China was to exert more of an influence in the South China Sea with its warships being deployed further south. Indonesia had been particularly vocal in its opposition to China's island-grab and now Beijing wanted to ensure that the island naton would no longer be a threat. Chinese warships began to circumnavigate Indonesian territorial waters testing Indonesian response times. This prompted the Indonesians to increase their military operations to counter the new threat. The Indonesian government believed that support from the Soviet Union would stem any armed conflict with China but this failed to be the case. Indonesian cargo ships also found themsleves being watched carefully by Chinese air and sea forces partiuclarly when trading with Vietnam or the Soviet Union. Attacking the Gunung Sunbing The Gunung Sunbing ''was an Indonesian-flagged cargo ship that made regular runs between Jakata and Haiphong. The captain was familiar with the region before the Chinese island-grab but when journeying to Haiphong on April 15th 1987 he had failed to take into account the changes to what was now Chinese territorial waters. At 0950hrs the ship was intercepted by a Chinese patrol boat and ordered to stop. The Captain protested claiming he was travelling through established international shipping routes. The Chinese vessel opened fire on the ship trying to disable it but instead punched a large enough hole in the ship around the propeller that it began to take on water faster than the pumps could cope with. The ship sank completely four hours later. Amazingly none of her crew were injured and were instead taken into Chinese custody. Indonesian Defiance Spurred on by their Soviet allies Indonesia severed all diplomatic ties with Beijing and warned China it would keep trading with Vietnam. The Indonesian Navy however was in no fit state to properly take on the PLAN despite its rearmament program. Therefore troops were put on Indonesian cargo vessels trading throughout the South China Sea to deter boarding but this offered little real protection against ships and aircraft. The answer was to put Yakovlev Yak-38 "Forger" VTOL fighters on the cargo ships to provide a level of defence. The Forger's War Indonesia had been a long standing proponent of VTOL aircraft but had not been entirely satisified with the Yak-38 when it was offered by its Soviet benefactors. Indonesian planning called for the aircraft to be dispersed among the island chain that made up the country but the hot and humid conditions seriously affected power. Therefore the Soviets uprated the lift engines in the aircraft for Indonesian service. They were also fitted with Chinese PL-7 AAMs before relation's with Beijing soured. It was decided to put Yak-38s on Indonesian cargo ships for their protection. Deployment The Yak-38 was first deployed in June 1987 aboard the cargo ship ''Sukhatra bound for Haiphong, Vietnam. The passage was undertaken without incident however two days later a second ship carrying a Yak-38, the Jakarta Raya, ''set sail for Cambodia. A day out of port the vessel encountered the Chinese Type-053 frigate ''Shaoguan. ''The ''Shaoguan ''took to shadowing the ''Jakarta Raya but the memories of what happened to the Gunung Sunbing ''were fresh in the Captain's memory and he demanded action from the military presence aboard his ship. The military detachment radioed Jakarta for instructions but couldn't get through. The Captain believed their radio was being jammed by the Chinese and repeated his demands that the Yak-38 take off to protect them. The nervous Indonesian pilot manned his aircraft which was armed with two 23mm gun pods and two R-60 short range AAMs. This was hardly an ideal configuration for taking on the warship. The pilot performed a low flypast over the PLAN warship. In response the PLAN ship turned in towards the ''Jakarta Raya ''to signal that they would not be intimidated. This gesture was misinterpreted as a hostile act however and and on his secod pass the pilot straffed the bridge of the ''Shaoguan killing three crewmembers and injuring several others including the Shaoguan's Captain. The Chinese ships fired a Crotale SAM at the Yak-38 which missed its target. The Yak-38 was now low on fuel and attempted to land back on the Jakarta Raya. ''The injured Chinese Captain took his opportunity and fired a second missile while the aircraft was hovering. This time it struck home destroying the Yak-38 the burning remains of which crashed into the deck. The Sinking of ''Tanjungredep On June 22nd 1988 the Indonesian Governemnt sent an oceanagraphic survey ship, the Tanjungredep, into the Andaman Sea to begin taking samples off the sea bed to investogate the potential for natural gas. China had also been conducting surveys of the region with their own ships. The Indonesian Government conducted a security assessment before deploying the vessel and believed that with much of the hostility taking place in the Pacific and the South China Sea that no escort was needed (although a patrol boat did escort it through the Strait of Malacca). Loss On June 25th the ''Tanjungredep ''was travelling south-easterly at a speed of 8 knots whilst mapping the floorbed with a high powered sonar. Unknown to the crew a Chinese Shandong-class attack submarine was operating in the area and mistook the mapping sonar for that of a destroyer. The captain of the submarine ordered his crew to combat stations and rose closer to the surface to investigate. The Captain spotted the silhouette of the ''Tanjungredep ''believing it to be a submarine chaser - a common type of ASW vessel in the Far East. Expecting attack he dispatched a single wire guided torpedo that struck the vessel on the forward bow. The warhead obliterated the vessel killing all 56 crewmembers. Controversy Immediately the Indonesian Government accused the Chinese of murder and demanded the submarine Captain be extradited. The Chinese promptly refused this request. The Indonesians and the Soviet Union both dismissed the Chinese story of believing the ''Tanjungredep ''to be a submarine chaser and instead believed that the sinking was deliberate in order to discourage the Indonesians (and anyone else) from displaying interest in the region's resources. Category:Conflicts